Apple revamps MacBook Air after years of neglect

Apple has overhauled two of its oldest Macs after sales of the company’s personal computers fell to the lowest point since 2010 last quarter.

On Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York, the technology giant debuted a new MacBook Air with a sharper screen and redesigned the Mac mini desktop with a focus on professional users.

The revamp of the some of the most popular products in the Mac line comes on the heels of new devices from Google and Microsoft. Apple also launched new iPads on Tuesday, showing the company continues to spread its bets with gadgets beyond the key iPhone line.

The MacBook Air was refreshed with faster processors last year. But it hasn’t been fully overhauled since the current design was introduced by co-founder Steve Jobs in 2010. It was originally launched a decade ago, a year after the original iPhone.

The new MacBook Air includes the same 13-inch screen size as the previous model, but it is a higher-resolution Retina display, a feature that fans of the laptop have been requesting for years. It also includes thinner sides around the screen, shrinking the device’s overall footprint. It has faster Intel processors, a Touch ID fingerprint scanner for logging, a larger trackpad and better speakers.

The new MacBook Air is 10% thinner than the previous model and is more than 100g lighter. It has the same 12-hour battery life as the previous model.

It will cost US$1 199 and go on sale today, Cupertino, California-based Apple said. It’s not immediately known when the new machine will go on sale in South Africa.

Apple also introduced a new Mac mini, its traditionally low-cost desktop computer that comes without a screen, keyboard or mouse. Originally introduced in 2005, the Mac mini has been a popular device for server storage environments and home media centres. In recent years, the computer hasn’t seen any notable updates and was last equipped with faster processors in October 2014. Like the MacBook Air, it got a major overhaul in 2010.

The new Mac mini is geared toward professional users and costs $799, up from the $499 of the previous model. It includes faster processors, making it five times faster than the previous model. All Mac minis now use faster flash storage as well with capacities up to 2TB, Apple said. It also goes on sale today, Apple said. Again, there’s no immediate word on the South African release date.  — Reported by Mark Gurman, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP